Betaville

Public Storage makes $11 billion hostile offer for Life Storage, reveals the Wall Street Journal

All paper 'unsolicited' takeover offers are pretty rare.

So, little old Betaville tends to sit up and take notice when one emerges, which is what happened overnight when the Wall Street Journal broke the news about Public Storage offering $129 a share for rival Life Storage.

The move comes after an earlier offer by Public Storage was rejected. Below is a link to the Wall Street Journal story:..

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Weekend review: Danaher, Catalent and SolGold...

Bloomberg dug out the biggest takeover scoop of the weekend.

The financial media giant revealed that Danaher Corporation, the US-listed life sciences giant, has recently expressed an interest in buying Catalent, a healthcare contract manufacturer.

Bloomberg suggests Danaher indicated it could be willing to pay a significant premium for Catalent, so the latter's shares may be sharply up on Monday...

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First Abu Dhabi Bank said to explore bid for Standard Chartered, reveals Bloomberg - Part 4

Little old Betaville thought it worth highlighting a fine piece of journalism from rival reporters at the venerable Financial Times.

The piece has some cracking detail, including a string of advisers, and insight about First Abu Dhabi Bank's failed tilt at FTSE 100-listed bank Standard Chartered. Below is the link to the story:..

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Cybersecurity firm Rapid7 explores sale, reveals Reuters

Hat tip to the intrepid hack at Reuters for digging out the Rapid7 takeover tale.

According to Milana Vinn, US Rapid7 is working with bankers at Goldman Sachs on "strategic options" after attracting takeover interest. Below is the link to the scoop, which has sent the shares over 20pc higher:..

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Advent International's Cobham weighs Mercury Systems takeover, reports Bloomberg

You don't very often see senior executives in private equity firms and stuffy corporates talk on the record much about carrying out potential deals with rivals before the transaction is announced very often...

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Bestway builds stake in J Sainsbury - Part 3

Bestway isn't hanging around.

J Sainsbury has just revealed the wholesale group has increased its stake in the supermarket giant to just under 4.5pc.

The move comes after Bestway announced a 3.45pc shareholding in Sainsbury's last week and reports suggested the privately-owned group's top executives have been weighing a combination with the FTSE 100 retailer.

Below is a link to this morning's announcement:..

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Activist Kelso takes stake in THG

John Goold, a charasmatic veteran City of London stockbroker, is leading an activist campaign at THG, the London-listed online retailer also known as The Hut Group.

Kelso, the vehicle being led by Goold, has just announced it owns 0.4pc of THG or around 5 million shares. Below is the Kelso MO:..

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Sunday review on a Monday: BP, er, and that's it...

BP's low valuation makes it a takeover target.

Well, that's according to fund manager M&G - which is a shareholder in BP - via the front page of The Sunday Times business section...

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Bestway builds stake in J Sainsbury - Part 2

Hat tip to Oliver Gill and Chris Price, business hacks at The Daily Telegraph, little old Betaville's former employer.

Gill and Price have actually done some hard work and dug out some cracking on the record quotes from old Colin Graves, the straight-talking founder of budget convenence store company Costcutter, about Bestway's REAL intenstions for J Sainsbury...

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Bears re-emerge from the woods ... - Part 2

So, Viceroy's latest target was Medical Properties Trust, the US-listed healthcare property company. Below is the link to the short seller's note:

https://viceroyresearch.org/2023/01/26/medical-properties-distrust/..

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Bestway builds stake in J Sainsbury

Wholesaler Bestway has this morning announced it has purchased a 3.45pc stake in J Sainsbury.

Bestway is led by Sir Anwar Pervez, a former bus conductor and driver. He is now a billionaire, worth around £3.1 billion, according to The Sunday Times rich list...

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Bears re-emerge from the woods ...

First Hindenburg; now Viceroy.

Yesterday, renonwed short selling outfit Hindenburg Research released some fairly punchy allegations about billionaire Gautam Adani and the company he controls - India-listed Adani Group, the mining to energy conglomerate. Adani Group's shares subsequently collapsed with the company's market value losing around $10 billion. Below is a link to a more detailed report from The Guardian containing the allegations:..

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Apollo eyes $10 billion Millicom takeover, reveals the Financial Times

It's been a while since Apollo has been touted to as a potential acquirer in a large leveraged buy-out but hacks at the venerable Financial Times have done well to discover the firm is looking at purchasing Millicom, the Latin American telecoms operator.

According to the FT, Apollo has teamed up with Marcelo Claure, the former SoftBank executive, to explore a bid for the company that could value it around $10 billion, including debt...

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Everton Football Club owners appoint advisers to carry out £500 million sale, reveals The Guardian - Part 2

So, Everton Football Club isn't "for sale". Well, that is what sports hacks at The Times are reporting this morning.

According to the newspaper Farhard Moshiri, the Iranian businessman and large shareholder in Everton, was denying the possibility of a sale last night after The Guardian published its scoop. Below is a link to piece in today's The Times:..

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Everton Football Club owners appoint advisers to carry out £500 million sale, reveals The Guardian

Late last year little old Betaville was ruminating on the fact that two top flight Premier League football clubs - Liverpool and Manchester United - were both officially put on the market at the time...

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